Amateur XCO racing

[OnTheRicky]

I have never been to an XCO race myself, but I've been following the local and international races for a while now and it looks like a lot of fun!

 

One thing I'm curious to know is, how "beginner friendly" is local XCO racing like the upcoming Gauteng Cycling XCO Cup at Wolwespruit? 

 

It seems like the WP XCO events are really well supported, but I don't see much discussion for the Gauteng events, which makes me fear that only top riders will be participating and lapping a poor noob like me 

 

 

[RyanAW]

I'm in the same boat. It seems like the chaps at Thaba have something coming up:

 

https://www.cyclingsa-events.co.za/app/

 

[BikeisLife]

Not sure how things run that side but in KZN there are various batches in the events. 

So if you find yourself a little worried, you will be batched accordingly and will be in a batch with similar strength riders. 

It's an awesome format of racing and very spectator friendly which is nice.

Definitely go give it a try, you won't be disappointed. There will be a practice day the day before to familiarize yourself with the track. If there are any technical bits there is often a slower B line as well. 

[Red Bird]

Give Pierre a call. They introduce XCO in a beginner friendly manner from September to November in a relay format. In January, they usually do 2 development league races that are not quite as technical, have a bit less climbing per lap and are a bit shorter than the standard 4-5km. I started with them last year and the growth in experience has been awesome. They cater for all levels...

[milky4130]

You can always move down to Cape Town you won’t be the first, besides the awesomely run XCO a bonus is we have the Trails, the Sea & the Mountain & the wine ???? and ...and..

Seriously just give it a go what is the worst that can happen? If it’s your first Xco event ever it’s inevitable that you will have a tough time but at least you I’ll know what to work on. It’s the best format where get to test every aspect of Mtbing, climbing, descending, technical handling, doing single track & obstacles at speed and sometimes you need to slow it down as well. Good luck!????????

[ians H2Sport]

As XCO is an Olympic discipline, the commissions or local federations will be focussing on getting riders to the ultimate event every 4 years. Whilst we have some top riders in SA, we need to do a lot of work at foundation level to find and develop new talent. As such, the local federations/provinces need to hold XCO events to cater for both ends. This starts with development programs, such as the Cycling KZN Development program. Development programs lead into the schools programs and events such as the very successful Spur Schools series. Next step is the provincial XCO series. These are often considered too hectic for recreational riders, and in some instances they may be. The challenge of the provincial commissions is to hold events and develop courses which cater for elites with UCI XCO aspirations, and to encourage younger and recreational riders to support the events. Without local riders supporting the events, obtaining much needed sponsorship is very challenging. So you can see the challenge here. In KZN we have attempted to start our 4 event season with fast, non technical courses, ending at the much feared Cascades which boasts arguably world class course options. Even the more technical courses have B lines, and in some cases even C lines. So bottom line, yes go ahead an take part if you are interested. Your support is needed and you will most likely have a blast. I would stay away from the SA Cup XCO events if you are new to XCO, as these are more technical with loads of climbing. They are aimed at top of age cat riders and should be preparing our UCI hopefuls for the world circuits. 

[DieselnDust]

As XCO is an Olympic discipline, the commissions or local federations will be focussing on getting riders to the ultimate event every 4 years. Whilst we have some top riders in SA, we need to do a lot of work at foundation level to find and develop new talent. As such, the local federations/provinces need to hold XCO events to cater for both ends. This starts with development programs, such as the Cycling KZN Development program. Development programs lead into the schools programs and events such as the very successful Spur Schools series. Next step is the provincial XCO series. These are often considered too hectic for recreational riders, and in some instances they may be. The challenge of the provincial commissions is to hold events and develop courses which cater for elites with UCI XCO aspirations, and to encourage younger and recreational riders to support the events. Without local riders supporting the events, obtaining much needed sponsorship is very challenging. So you can see the challenge here. In KZN we have attempted to start our 4 event season with fast, non technical courses, ending at the much feared Cascades which boasts arguably world class course options. Even the more technical courses have B lines, and in some cases even C lines. So bottom line, yes go ahead an take part if you are interested. Your support is needed and you will most likely have a blast. I would stay away from the SA Cup XCO events if you are new to XCO, as these are more technical with loads of climbing. They are aimed at top of age cat riders and should be preparing our UCI hopefuls for the world circuits. 

 

 

In the distant past the XCO National events used to have a Fun category for Joe Soap and his pub mates to enter. They rode to laps and started with the Sub Vets/Vets/Masters category.

The Sv/VM ]/M group is way more competitive now so maybe a Fun group on its own? Can use the hour of official practice to host this cat

[ians H2Sport]

Oh, and if anyone is around & about PMB this weekend, KZNMTB is hosting round 3 of our XCO series at Cascades. Course marking is almost complete, race day is this Sunday. Stuart Marais, one of our local pro's, will be at Cascades on Saturday morning to take anyone who is keen around the course. This is a great opportunity to learn from one of the best in the XCO business 

[BMCfan]

In the distant past the XCO National events used to have a Fun category for Joe Soap and his pub mates to enter. They rode to laps and started with the Sub Vets/Vets/Masters category.

The Sv/VM ]/M group is way more competitive now so maybe a Fun group on its own? Can use the hour of official practice to host this cat

 

 

What a cool a idea, the fun cat!

 

Its almost like years ago when i started cycling when there were A B C cat in road cycling. You start at the bottom and move up.

 

So once you score a certain amount of points in the fun cat you can up to the age cat and go racing!